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Arthur Kellam Tylee
| death_date = | placeofburial = Compton Cemetery, Quebec | birth_place = | death_place = Quebec | allegiance =Canada British Empire | branch = | serviceyears =Canadian Air Force | rank =Air Commodore | unit = | commands =Canadian Air Force | battles =World War I | relations = Robert Smith Tylee 1809-1845 }} Air Commodore Arthur Kellam Tylee OBE (24 April 1887 – 13 April 1961) was Canadian officer who served in the Royal Flying Corps during World War I. After the War, Tylee was the first Air Officer Commanding of the Canadian Air Force. Career Tylee was born on 24 April 1887Compton Cemetery and he later studied at the Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyTechnology's war record from around 1910Massachusetts Institute of Technology Year Book, p. 160 to 1913.Massachusetts Institute of Technology Year Book, p. 248 Tylee joined the Royal Flying Corps in August 1915, being granted the probationary rank of second lieutenant in December of that year; he had previously held the rank of lieutenant in the Canadian Militia.Flight Global 1916 At least some of his junior years in the RFC were spent flying the Martinsyde G.100 on No. 23 Squadron on the Western Front.The Aerodrome Tylee was made a flight commander in February 1917Flight Global 1917 and in March he was made a squadron commander and given the temporary rank of major.London Gazette It was also in 1917 that Tylee was sent back to Canada, to command Camp Borden in Ontario before being posted to England to carry out advanced work. On 1 April 1918 Tylee was transferred from the Royal Flying Corps to the newly created Royal Air Force in the temporary rank of lieutenant colonelLondon Gazette and returned to Canada to serve as the Inspector of Training for the Royal Air Force in Canada. He continued in this role until the end of World War I. In June 1918 Tylee was mentioned in dispatches for valuable war serviceFlight Global 1918 and he was also made an officer of the Order of the British Empire. After the War, Tylee returned to Canada. By 1920 Tylee was selected to be the first Air Officer Commanding the Canadian Air Force and granted the rank of air commodore. Tylee established a small headquarters at Ottawa under the oversight of the Air BoardRCAF on which Air Vice-Marshal Sir Willoughby Gwatkin served. In October 1920 Tyle, accompanied by Flight Lieutenant George Thompson, set out to complete the last leg of the first trans-Canadian flight (which had started in Halifax in July), departing from Calgary in a de Havilland DH-9A. They arrived in Vancouver after 4 days of flying.Creekside Publications In February 1921 Tylee turned his attention to the matter of what might make a suitable flag for the Canadian Air Force. In a note he wrote to Gwatkin, Tylee proposed that the RAF Ensign be adopted with a maple leaf at the centre of the roundel. Gwatkin in turn applied to Air Marshal Sir Hugh Trenchard, the British Chief of the Air Staff, who rejected the proposal on the basis that "the sentiment of unity between the Air Services of the Empire" ought to be maintained. It was not until 1940 that Tylee's proposed design was adopted.Canadian Flags Later in 1921 Tylee was replaced as commander of the Canadian Air Force by Wing Commander Ronald RedpathCanadian Forces Tylee died on 13 April 1961 and was buried in the Compton Cemetery in Quebec. References |- Category:1887 births Category:1961 deaths Category:Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni Category:Royal Flying Corps officers Category:Royal Air Force officers Category:Canadian Militia officers Category:Canadian Air Force personnel